


The Maiden's Monster

by kittenofdoomage



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alpha!Negan, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Angst, Character Death, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Knotting, Marking, Sex, Smut, Violence, dub-con, non-con, omega!reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-18 16:22:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16122290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittenofdoomage/pseuds/kittenofdoomage
Summary: She’s been with Negan a long time and when he’s taken prisoner by Rick, there’s a chance Y/N won’t see him again. She’s ready to fight for her Alpha but will anyone let them be together again? Spoilers up to and beyond S8 finale. This work is not very Rick-friendly.





	1. Chapter 1

The gunfire had stopped.

Her hands were shaking where she covered her head, hiding in the closet of her bedroom. Negan told her to stay put, so she stayed put, trusting him implicitly. While Y/N didn’t necessarily agree with the way he did things, and made sure to tell him often, she knew this world was dangerous and without him, she would certainly be dead.

Or worse.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor and shouts made her shudder more, trying to keep quiet as her heart raced out of control. Someone was shouting for her but she dared not move.

It went quiet again and she lifted her head, eyeing the strip of light at the bottom of the door. Y/N shifted back in the closet, pressing herself further against the wall when her bedroom door opened and someone walked in, coming to a stop in the middle of the room.

She’d only been this scared once.

Her brother, Edward, had been with her when the world as they knew it ended. She was shopping for a present for Mark’s birthday. Her Alpha. Her perfect fairytale.

It was only months before Ed was killed but not before he barricaded Y/N inside a tiny electrical van, surrounded by the undead. Her scent was like a magnet to them and she feared that eventually, they’d either break through and kill her or she’d die of starvation.

Y/N had given up hope when she started to lose consciousness, the dehydration getting to her before anything else.

And then the door had opened. Light spilled in and roused her, although she was completely out of it. A group of people had found her, people with guns. They’d been curious about what was making the walkers so interested in the van, slaughtering them all to find out.

the Sanctuary was their home and at first, Y/N had been frightened. They’d helped her recover, given her food and water, and told her that to stay there, she had to earn her keep. She was more than happy to go along, grateful to even be alive.

That was when she met Negan.

His name was like a revered word around the Sanctuary. She never expected him to be a real physical being so when he entered the room for the first time, three weeks into her stay, she’d been frightened. He was huge, at least six feet, clad in leather and denim, a lewd smirk on his face.

“Well, well, well,” he drawled, leaning against the doorframe of the utility room Y/N was working in. She was supposed to be helping with the laundry but his presence had completely derailed her. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing?”

Y/N lifted her chin in defiance. She’d never been a quiet girl and Mark had often joked that he’d been lumbered with the most disobedient Omega in the world. It still hurt to think of him; she never knew what had happened to him.

“I’m Negan,” the big Alpha introduced himself.

Y/N took a breath and stuck out her hand, smiling nervously. “Y/N. It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

Negan grinned, remaining where he was, and the expression made her insides shiver. His scent was overpowering the strong detergent she’d been using - he smelled like cigarettes, leather and whiskey. “Sir,” he repeated, tasting the word on his tongue. “I like that.”

The way he said it was pure filth and Y/N could feel that little spark in her belly that she’d thought long since dead. She dropped her hand, feeling her cheeks heat up.

“How long were you out there?” Negan asked, genuinely curious. Y/N had already told the men that found her everything but she supposed one stray Omega wasn’t of much interest. Except, if that were the case, why was he here?

“A few months,” she replied.

“Family?”

Y/N shook her head. “Only my brother and he died trying to save me.”

Negan smiled, the expression almost soft. “You’re here, aren’t ya? I think he succeeded.” The comment offered a small measure of comfort and Y/N smiled, ducking her head. “You’re Omega.” It was a statement and she nodded, confirming it. Negan inhaled sharply, shaking his head. “That’s gonna cause us some problems.”

“Why?” she asked, frowning at him.

“Not many Omegas left in this world, sweetheart,” Negan replied, standing straight and moving closer. “And I got half a dozen Alphas in this place that’ll come sniffin’ round once your heat starts.” His scent was even more intoxicating up close. As Y/N stayed on the spot, Negan reached out, fingering the collar of her borrowed shirt, tugging it down a little to show the silvery scar of her former Alpha’s mark. 

“I don’t know what happened to him,” she whispered, answering his unaired question. “I haven’t had a heat since shortly after the… the apocalypse, I guess.” Negan’s eyes met hers and Y/N could see concern in the chocolatey depths. “Usually they’re every three months and… it hasn’t happened.”

Negan hummed, releasing your collar. “You know what you smell like, doll?” he asked, hunching his body so he was on her level and Y/N sucked in a breath, regretting it when his scent exploded in her throat. Her mouth was practically watering now. “You smell like peaches and cream.” His hand cradled her face and he smiled, lips inches from her own. “Bet you taste like it too.”

No other Alpha had a chance to lay a claim on her. Y/N was Negan’s, from that moment on. While he had his harem of women, Y/N was the one he cherished, the one he always came back to. She was comfortable, knowing she had his protection, knowing she could survive at his side.

Until Alexandria.

Rick Grimes was destroying everything. Y/N had chewed Negan out for an hour when he came back from the first confrontation, that damn bat of his covered in blood and gore. He’d sat and listened and then explained his reasons. She didn’t accept them - she never did - but she did accept that this was a different world.

It was her intention to stay well out of any war that Rick and Negan started. The other wives colluded against him and thought she would be willing to assist, but Y/N was loyal to her Alpha. How could they understand? Betas had no concept of the bond between an Alpha and Omega.

Y/N thought the only reason they tolerated her was because she kept Negan’s attention off of them. He liked to be surrounded by beautiful women; he had an ego the size of the building which Y/N pointed out frequently. She was probably the only person who could call him on his bullshit but she wasn’t frightened to call out anyone else on theirs either.

Negan ignored her when she begged him not to go, that something felt off. He’d walked out the door, telling her not to worry, it was all in hand, he’d be back later.

The footsteps on the other side of the door moved closer, blocking out the light and Y/N held her breath, looking up at the door handle fearfully. Whoever was there was touching it, the lock clicking as their hand pressed down and she knew this was it. She’d been discovered.

A familiar face looked down at her when the door opened and Y/N looked up at Daryl Dixon with fear in her eyes. She’d seen him, when Negan had brought him here and she’d been kind to him. While she never really stopped the things her Alpha did, she did try to lessen the suffering of others. Negan likely knew - he just didn’t bother to stop her.

“Y/N,” Daryl murmured, shouldering his crossbow and reaching down his hand. “C’mon, you’re safe now.”

“Safe?” she whispered, frowning. If he was here, Negan was dead and she was alone. Again. “Where is he?”

“He’s gone,” Daryl ground out and Y/N could instantly tell by the fury in his eyes that Negan was not dead. He was out there, somewhere; he’d lost but he wasn’t dead. “Come on, girl, didn’t you hear me? It’s safe.” He was reaching down now and Y/N squeaked when he hauled her to her feet. “Everyone’s outside,” he grunted, pushing her towards the door.

The crowd outside was huge, comprising of every worker, soldier and former resident of the Sanctuary. Rick Grimes stood above everyone, giving a speech about a new world and Y/N stared at him, taking in the evidence of Negan’s fists that lingered on his face.

Everyone was murmuring about the change; one tyrant for another. They’d go about their business, used to the way of things, maybe with a little less violence but not much different. Y/N didn’t know how to go on. She didn’t have to work for points.

Daryl nudged her. “Rick wants to talk to you,” he muttered, pushing through the crowd as Rick’s riveting speech drew to a close.

The people dispersed, turning to pick up the piece. Y/N saw Laura, a former lieutenant, who gave her a pitiful look and wandered away. A familiar scent flooded Y/N’s nose and she came face to face with Rick Grimes. Her eyes dropped to the bat in his hand.

“Where is he?” she asked, quietly and Rick’s eyes hardened.

“Somewhere else,” he replied, his Southern drawl making her dislike him more. “Somewhere he can’t hurt you.”

Y/N lifted her chin. “He never hurt me,” she spat, shrugging off Daryl’s hand when it landed on her shoulder. “What did you do to him?”

“You can stay here, with the others,” Rick continued, ignoring her question, “or you could go to the Hilltop. Daryl says you used to be a nurse.” She didn’t make a move to confirm his enquiry. “We could use some more medically trained hands.”

She knew where the Hilltop was. Y/N also knew who was running it now. Negan called her “The Widow” and he’d killed her husband to get at Rick. It had worked, but Y/N suspected if Maggie ever found out what she was to Negan, she’d be facing the barrel of a revenge-loaded gun.

The offer to leave but not to accompany him was suspicious and only planted a seed in her mind that Negan was in Alexandria. Whatever plan Rick had for him, Y/N’s Alpha was still alive.

“I’d rather stay here,” she retorted primly.

“You got another Alpha?” Rick asked, obviously hinting at the fact that she would eventually go into heat. His scent was flourishing a little now, the Alpha on him clear and Y/N stepped back.

“I don’t fucking  _ need _ another Alpha,” she hissed, outright pushing Daryl away. “I’m gonna make this real clear, Rick Grimes.” Other Sanctuary residents were watching now, wondering what Rick would do to the bold Omega even Negan didn’t piss off. “I don’t fucking like you.”

Rick chuckled. “Don’t gotta like me, sweetheart.” He saluted with two fingers as he backed away. “We’re done here.”

Y/N narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t done. She wasn’t done by a long shot.


	2. Chapter 2

Negan rolled his head against the pillows, testing the restraints on his wrists for the umpeenth time. The doctor was gone, leaving him alone with his mind-numbing boredom as Rick the Prick took over everything that used to be Negan’s.

He tried to ignore the thought of the other Alpha finding Y/N. She would have stayed where Negan told her to, she always did. Despite her constant arguing with him, she knew what was best for her was to obey him.

Most of the time anyway.

Counting back, he frowned. When was her last heat? Fuck, he couldn’t remember with all of this war bullshit going on. She could make it through one heat without him. But what about the next? Negan didn’t think Rick would be up for conjugal visits.

And she needed him.

He needed her.

The door opened and Michonne walked in with a tray of food. Negan hated it when they did this, watching him eat like some kind of mental patient. It was usually Michonne and she watched him with a hawklike gaze that made him all kinds of uncomfortable.

Negan knew people hated him. It wasn’t his mission to be liked. It was his mission to keep people alive.

There was no law in this world and people needed to be frightened of something. Needed to know there was punishment for their misdeeds. At one point, he thought Rick might have got it but no, Negan was going to be an example. A prisoner of the enemy.

“Where’s Rick?” he dared as Michonne sat down, her face neutral.

“Busy.”

Negan grinned. “Shame. I thought he’d like to poke me with a stick some more.”

Michonne sighed, rolling her eyes. “Just shut up and eat.” She shoved the tray onto his lap and Negan raised an eyebrow, lifting his hands. There was enough give in the restraints to allow him to pick up the spoon and eat the pasta but it wasn’t exactly gourmet cooking.

He ate quickly and Michonne snatched the tray back before he’d dropped the spoon, prompting him to glare at her. “That it? No small talk?” he asked, smirking at her.

“Small talk?” Michonne hissed, pausing halfway to the door.

“Y’know,” Negan pushed, rolling his hand in the cuff, “the weather, your day, shit like that.” He fixed his eyes on her, feeling a ball of anger curl in his belly as she stared right back. “Or you could tell your boyfriend I need to fucking talk to him.”

Michonne’s back straightened. “About what?”

His initial reply changed when he realized “none of your fucking business” wasn’t going to get him anywhere. “There’s…” This woman was a Beta. Would she even understand? “I got an Omega.” Michonne’s expression softened and Negan felt dirty. He hated expressing any kind of weakness but he needed to know Y/N was alright.

“You?” she scoffed, her features morphing into a scornful look. “Don’t you keep a whole bunch of wives locked up somewhere?”

Negan chuckled, shaking his head. “I don’t keep ‘em locked up. And Y/N ain’t just a wife.” His eyes gleamed and Michonne shifted uncomfortably. “I just wanna know if she’s alright,” he confessed, deciding the more human approach would work.

It did and Michonne’s scorn dissipated. “Rick should be back this afternoon. I’ll tell him you were asking for him.”

“Thank you,” Negan nodded genuinely, looking down at his hands. Michonne watched him for a second before turning away and leaving him alone again.

*****

“Negan asked to see you,” Michonne said quietly, falling into stride beside Rick as he walked through the gates of Alexandria. He was holding Lucille and she cringed inwardly at it. She’d ask him to destroy the thing but somehow, she didn’t think he would. 

The bat was his trophy.

“What does he want?” Rick asked, not looking at her as he walked, the limp in his leg still obvious.

“He wants to know if his Omega is alright,” Michonne answered honestly and Rick stopped. She did the same, looking at him strangely. “You met her?” He nodded slowly, meeting her eyes and Michonne didn’t know what to make of his expression. “So, she’s alive.”

Rick grunted. “Yeah. And she’s got a mouth on her.”

Michonne smiled a little, despite herself. It would be just like Negan to have an Omega as foul-mouthed as he was. “Maybe you should tell him. Wouldn’t you want to know?” Rick didn’t answer and Michonne searched his eyes, blinking when he sucked in a breath and looked towards the infirmary.

“She could be leverage. Get him to cooperate.”

Her head started to shake in denial before she spoke. “Rick -”

“I’ll see you back at the house,” he cut her off, kissing her softly and turning away, relieved when she didn’t follow. He slipped up the steps into the infirmary and unlocked the door, greeting the guard inside. Negan’s room was at the back of the building and Rick stalked the hallways quickly, wondering how he could use the Omega girl against him.

She was young. Maybe late twenties. There was a faded mark on her throat and a more recent one that Rick guessed was Negan’s. Had she had an Alpha before or had she always been with him? Rick was more than curious about her. Y/N’s face had been haunting his thoughts the entire drive back to Alexandria and he couldn’t lie to himself about the suddenly decreased space in his jeans.

Her scent was mouth-watering. Rick hadn’t had an Omega since he was a teenager and that hadn’t ended well. Lori was Beta, Michonne was Beta - neither of them could understand what an Alpha was. They tried… Michonne tried her hardest. And Rick loved her for it.

But an Omega? How did Negan end up with a such a creature? She was full of spit and fire, a force to be reckoned with as much as her Alpha was.

The door in front of him was locked like always and Rick stood there for a moment, breathing deeply through his nose and sliding the key into the door. He walked inside, seeing Negan on the bed, staring at the ceiling, apparently deep in thought.

“I was wondering how long you were gonna stand out there,” Rick’s captive drawled, rolling his head to watch as he entered the room, placing the bat against the wall and shutting the door. “Give your lady my thanks for passing along my message.”

Rick couldn’t help but smile at that. “I understand this is about your lady,” he retorted, giving Negan a smug look. For a second, there was a lapse of confidence, almost terror, in the older man’s eyes. Rage quickly swallowed it and Negan’s face hardened. “She’s alive.”

If there was a relief for the Alpha in the news, it didn’t show. He watched Rick with a steely gaze, jaw clenched tightly together.

“I left her at the Sanctuary,” Rick continued, pulling the chair out and sitting down on it, Negan’s eyes following his every move. “Thing I can’t figure out,” he drawled, leaning back, “is how you managed to get a pretty thing like that, all to yourself.”

Negan didn’t answer. He watched and waited for Rick to continue.

“Her scent is something, huh? Almost like peaches.”

A clenched fist in the restraints was all Rick needed to confirm Negan’s devotion to Y/N.

“I asked her, you know,” Rick murmured, staring the other Alpha in the eye, “if she’d need anything. I mean, she’s gotta have a heat at some point right?” Negan wanted to rip his throat out.

“You’re not that kind of sick fuck,” Negan growled. “Y/N wouldn’t betray me.”

Rick grinned. “I mean, maybe not in her right mind. But an Omega in heat -” He hissed, shaking his head. “She’s gonna need an Alpha.” He lowered his chin, looking up at Negan with an earnest expression. “She’s gonna need a knot.”

Negan snapped, lashing out, restricted by the cuffs and his roar of indignation only made Rick laugh. “You really that kind of man, Rick?” Negan asked, still struggling. “You’d do that to a woman?” His eyebrows raised. “And what the fuck would Michonne say?”

“She’d understand,” Rick shrugged, unsure if that was the whole truth. Michonne likely wouldn’t understand but the more Rick thought about it, the more it seemed to him that the natural course of things shouldn’t be denied. Negan stared at him like he was insane.

“You are un-fucking-hinged,” he muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. “Aren’t you supposed to be the good guy?”

Rick smirked, backing up to the door, leaning down to pick up Lucille from her resting place. Negan’s fists clenched again, uselessly, as Rick opened the door, looking back at him with smile. “I’ll give Y/N your regards.”

“I’m gonna fucking kill you,” Negan seethed but Rick was already gone.

*****

Y/N walked through the halls of the Sanctuary, watching all of the changes take place. Plants were being grown now and people seemed more relaxed.

It only pissed her off more.

Negan had been gone for three weeks. In his wake, Rick had instituted a “share-all” culture, allowing communities to trade freely and for the most part, it wasn’t so bad. Y/N liked the plants, the life growing there but it wasn’t the same by herself.

She missed her Alpha.

His scent wasn’t lingering on her sheets anymore. His touch was a distant memory. Y/N was fairly certain Rick was holding him prisoner in Alexandria but she didn’t exactly have the manpower to break him out. Everyone seemed to be happy that Negan was gone.

The sun was setting over the horizon and Y/N paused by the broken windows, looking out over the surrounding fields and houses. She often watched the world from up here, enjoying the peace and quiet. Below her, the new Sanctuary gates opened to welcome in a jeep and she sighed, slumping to the floor.

Her sobs were quiet but in the large corridor, they echoed off of the barren walls. The sun went down, leaving her in near darkness, alone with her misery.

It was only the cold that drew her from the spot, back down to where the bedrooms were. Her door was open and Y/N frowned, knowing she’d closed it. Approaching slowly, she pushed it all the way open with one hand, revealing Rick Grimes sat on her bed, his hands clasped between his knees.

He looked up when she walked in.

“Was wondering where you were,” he commented, smiling and Y/N felt her skin crawl.

“What are you doing here?”

Rick shrugged. “We’re a community now. I’m just payin’ a friendly visit.” His scent smelled off and Y/N wrinkled her nose, leaving the door wide open as she side-stepped around him. “How are things going?”

She shrugged, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. “Fine.” Unscrewing the lid, she took a sip, turning to come face to face with Rick. He was still smiling and his scent was stronger up close. There was an acidic quality to it, something sickly that turned her stomach. “What do you want?”

He scented her, groaning and Y/N panicked, pushing him back. Rick stumbled, smiling almost maniacally. “Calm down,” he muttered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Y/N bared her teeth, tossing the bottle of water onto the counter. “I am  _ not _ your Omega,” she snapped, sharp canines protruding from below her top lip. Rick blinked and stood straight, staring at her in wonder.

“Where did he find you?”

Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips and tracing the pointed teeth. Rick was openly gaping now, the hunger in his eyes beyond the point of reason. “It’s a genetic thing,” Y/N mumbled, backing up as her aggression receded. “You need to leave,” she insisted. “Now.”

“I’m gonna be sticking around for a few days,” Rick informed her, stepping back towards the door, his eyes devouring her from head to toe, a lewd smirk on his lips. “If you need anything, just ask.”

He lingered for a second more before leaving and Y/N let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Rick’s scent still hung in the room and she rushed at the door, slamming it and locking it before searching for the incense she’d kept hidden.

Half an hour later, the room felt cleansed and Y/N retreated to her bathroom, hiding away in the shower. It didn’t help to relax her and she fell into bed with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Bit by bit, her conscious thoughts drifted away and she fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Rick prowled the hallways of the Sanctuary, acting like he was inspecting the place. It was the time of the evening where everyone started to wind down and socialize and many of them gave him space. A few dared to speak to him and he forced a smile onto his face, dealing with the people who’d lived under Negan’s iron fist for so long.

Curiosity brought him to Negan’s bedroom, abandoned and untouched. No one was around in this part of the building and Rick took his time, going through Negan’s things. There were a few luxuries, personal keepsakes; Rick tossed them aside, uninterested.

The bedside drawer revealed a box of photographs. Some of them were old, dog-eared, clearly from before the world went to shit. But some of them were recent. Polaroids, all of Y/N. Rick seized them in his hand, picking through them. Negan was in a few, candid selfie shots where he was smiling and Y/N was trying to hide her face, giggling at the moment the photo was snapped.

The last one held his attention. It was Y/N alone, sat on the floor in a corridor filled with broken windows. She was wearing a long summer dress, yellow with little white flowers dotted all over it, and she wasn’t looking at the camera. It was an intimate shot, something only a lover could take.

Negan didn’t just care about this Omega. He loved her.

And that would work in Rick’s favor. If he could break the other Alpha, he would have truly won. Maggie could see the wreck left behind and have that as her revenge.

The best way to break an Alpha was his Omega. Rick knew that from his days as a sheriff, when Alpha criminals would confess if someone so much as threatened their Omega. He’d never done it himself but then, desperate times called for desperate measures. He’d seen Shane do it a thousand times.

Omegas in heat were easier targets. And Y/N smelled so good, mouth-wateringly so, Rick didn’t think she was far off.

His eyes focused on the picture, his cock swelling in his pants as he thought of sinking into her soft Omega body, feeling her slick coat him. A groan left his lips and he pressed down on the bulge in his pants, thinking about how close he’d been to her earlier.

Michonne didn’t even cross his mind.

Pocketing the photo, Rick tossed the rest onto the bed, not caring about the mess he left behind.

Slipping up to the next floor, he approached Y/N’s room. The other girls Negan had kept here had returned to their various former partners and only Y/N remained alone. It was pitch black and as his feet landed on the corridor floor, her scent hit him like a brick wall.

Pure primal need curled in his belly and he stalked towards the door, completely controlled by his Alpha instincts. Rick had never let his control slip this much before and he wondered why - it felt glorious. He felt powerful, like the war he’d lived through was nothing.

He’d felt on edge since Carl had died.

Maybe this was just the natural course of things. One Alpha is taken down, the next takes his place. Y/N would need an Alpha, she’d need a knot.

She’d need his mark.

Rick’s fingers closed around the door handle, frowning when it wouldn’t shift. Y/N had locked the door from the inside and he could hear her now, moaning and thrashing in her sleep. It made him hard as steel in his pants and he knew he needed to get into the room and help her.

She cried out and Rick dropped to his knees, fishing out his penknife. Within a few moments, he had the door open - he could have done it sooner but the distraction of Y/N’s scent and his own arousal made it difficult to concentrate.

He finally got into the room, taking in the sight of her. She was sprawled across the bed, legs twisted in the sheets, wearing only thin white cotton panties and a shirt that looked like it belonged to a man.

Negan.

The thought of the other Alpha made Rick’s upper lip curl in rage and he stalked towards the bed, standing over her, one hand palming his cock through his pants. Y/N mewled and arched, giving him a delicious view of the soaked crotch on her panties.

He growled. Not a second after the sound, Y/N’s eyes opened and she sat bolt upright, sweat making her skin glisten in the low lamp light. “Rick!” she gasped and he smiled, tilting his head at her. “What the fuck -”

She shrieked when he lunged for her, pressing her back against the mattress. His mouth was on hers and she tried to push him off, biting and snapping. Her canines sank into his lip and Rick cried out, stumbling backwards.

“Get out,” Y/N snarled, on all fours now like a beast. Rick laughed, shaking his head. “I mean it or I’ll tear your fucking throat out.”

Rick didn’t move.

“You’re in heat,” he commented casually, like he was discussing the weather. Y/N blinked at him, horrified at what he was suggesting. “You’re gonna need it.”

“I would rather die than let you touch me,” she ground out, clenching her fists into the sheets. Her nails were longer now, fuelled by her outrage and Rick got to his feet, grinning. “I will fucking kill you.”

“That’s what your Alpha said,” he jeered. Y/N grabbed the nearest heavy thing, the lamp, and threw it, feeling a small amount of satisfaction as Rick crumpled backwards under the weight. The light smashed and went out, plunging the room into darkness only illuminated by the distant lights outside.

In the dark, Rick looked even more menacing as he got to his feet again and Y/N frantically tried to remember where Negan had left her gun.

“You want him?” Rick asked, sounding playful and Y/N scrambled off of the bed, heading for the cupboards across the room. The Alpha was faster, zipping in to press her against the wall. His hand closed around her throat and Y/N whimpered as his scent overpowered her. “Why him?”

“He’s my Alpha,” she whined pitifully, turning her head away, stretching as far away from Rick as she could. He smiled, holding his face close to hers. “Please,” she kicked her feet uselessly, “let me go. I don’t want this.”

Rick inhaled her scent, pressing his nose to the spot below her ear, darting his tongue out to lick the sweat on her skin. Y/N’s entire body went slack and the Alpha inside him crowed victoriously.

“I thought you were supposed to be the good guy,” she whispered brokenly and Rick froze. Negan’s words echoed back at him. Michonne’s face was in his head.

He released her, stepping back and Y/N dropped to the floor. For a moment, he thought she was crying but then she moved, thrusting her hand into the drawer and grabbing her gun. She span and aimed, glaring at him with tear tracks staining her cheeks.

“Get back,” she spat. “I will fucking shoot you.”

Rick held his hands up, shaking his head. The red haze of his Alpha rage was fading, leaving him with a sense of shame and regret. His cock was still interested but he forced the arousal down, focusing on fixing the mess he’d got himself into.

“I’m backing up,” he said, taking a few steps away but Y/N didn’t lower the gun.

“You’re a fucking monster,” Y/N hissed, “I should shoot you.”

“I have a daughter,” Rick blurted out, wincing at his own dirty tactic. “She already lost her mom and brother - please,” he kept one hand up and slowly lowered the other, treating her like a wild animal, “don’t take me away from her too.”

Y/N’s hand was shaking and Rick waited, wondering if this was it. He’d acted stupidly, instinctively and now it could very well end with a bullet in his skull. “I should kill you to protect her. You assaulted me.” She swallowed, looking like she was going to be sick. “You touched me and I’m not yours to fucking touch!”

“I know, I know,” Rick placated. “I don’t know what came over me, I’m sorry. I -” He sighed, lifting his hand again. “It was wrong. Your scent was…” Her eyes went wide. “But even so, I shouldn’t have -”

“Let me see him,” Y/N ordered, her whole body shaking now, with rage and grief. “Let me see Negan and I’ll let you go.”

Rick frowned, tilting his head. “What?”

“Take me to him. Now.”

“It’s the middle of the night -”

“NOW!” Y/N screeched, firing the gun at her bed. Feathers exploded with the impact of the bullet and Rick jumped, shielding his head. “I don’t care if you’ve got him locked away in the middle of fucking nowhere,” she seethed. “I want to see my Alpha. You can’t keep me away from him.”

Rick’s posture became harder and he narrowed his eyes. “He’s a prisoner. An example. I can’t just let him have happy hour with his Omega because she demanded it.”

Y/N smiled cruelly. “Well, I could always tell everyone how their grand Alpha leader tried to force himself on an unarmed Omega.” Rick’s face paled and Y/N’s smile only widened. “Don’t you have a lethal little Beta stashed away back at Alexandria? I’m assuming you didn’t bring her with you on this little trip.”

Rick shook his head, swallowing nervously. “No. I - I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Came here intending to fuck me and didn’t spare your woman a single thought?” Y/N tutted, shaking her head, acting so much like Negan it was almost frightening. “Now what kind of shithead does that make you?”

“I’ll let you see him,” Rick relented.

“Now,” she repeated.

“In the morning. I can’t leave without my people.” His expression was firm and Y/N scowled. “I can’t,” Rick emphasized and she rolled her shoulders. Footsteps echoed down the hallway - someone had heard the gunshot.

“You better come up with a story real quick,” Y/N muttered, putting the gun away. Rick made a mental note to make sure she wasn’t armed when he took her to Alexandria.

_ If she’s there, it’d be easier to get to her _ , a traitorous little voice said, squirming darkly in the back of his head. Rick pressed his palm to his temple as three of the former Saviors filled the doorway. Among them was Laura and she pushed in front, peering at Y/N curiously.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Y/N nodded, her sweet facade back in place and Laura looked at Rick who gave her an uneasy smile.

“I heard Y/N scream,” Rick lied and Y/N’s smile dropped a little. “The door was locked and when I broke in -”

“I threw the lamp,” Y/N filled in, laughing like an idiot, completely forcing it. “Nearly shot him before he had the chance to explain.” Laura looked skeptical but the other two men had wandered away, uninterested. “Honestly, Laura, I’m fine.”

The blonde woman nodded, looking at Rick for a second. “Okay. Well, try not to waste any more ammo,” she quipped and turned away, leaving the room. Rick’s attention fell to Y/N for a second and she scowled at him.

“Get out.”

He didn’t hesitate to comply.


	4. Chapter 4

It took a few hours to traverse the decimated landscape to Alexandria. There were six of them in the van - Rick up front with a guy Y/N didn’t know and she rode in the back with Eugene, Tara and a woman she’d never met. During Eugene’s stay at the Sanctuary, they’d become friends, bonding over a love of Star Trek but now she knew he’d betrayed Negan, Y/N was cold toward him.

When he tried to explain, Tara shut him down. “You don’t need to justify yourself, Eugene. You did what was right.”

Y/N kept quiet, focusing on her fingernails as the drive continued. A few miles in, walkers were scattered across the road and the guy at the wheel - Dave, Y/N thought his name was - steered carefully around them. The dead things slammed against the walls and chased the van on rotting legs, bringing back too many memories of when the Saviors had found her originally.

A shudder caught Tara’s attention. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Cold,” Y/N lied, looking at her.

“It’s a hundred degrees outside,” the unknown woman scorned and Y/N blinked at her. “How could you be cold?” Y/N shrugged, not willing to fight her on it. Rick’s eyes caught hers in the mirror and she sunk down in her seat, willing the van to go faster.

The tension of seeing Negan after so many weeks separated from him, after almost losing him, was curling in her belly like a knife ready to slit her throat. Did he miss her as much as she missed him? Were they hurting him? Or had they simply locked him away like an animal?

Rick had said she could see him. Y/N doubted that would lead to anything good. She didn’t trust the Alpha - his scent still carried that sickly acidic smell that burned the back of her throat. He’d forced her to relinquish her weapon before leaving the Sanctuary, promising she wouldn’t need it anyway.

But there was a gleam in his eyes that made her doubt his word.

“Another thirty minutes and we’ll be there,” Dave called out and Eugene groaned. He was looking a little pale and Y/N scowled at him.

“You throw up on me and I’ll stab you,” she threatened and Eugene shuffled a little further away, hanging near the window. It was only open a crack in case there were more walkers around but it was enough fresh air to prevent him heaving his lunch over the floor.

“He actually threw up on Rosita the other day,” Tara informed the unknown woman, who giggled and leaned into her a little more. Y/N didn’t know Tara very well and she didn’t know the woman at all but there was clearly something going on there.

Eh, good for them. Everyone needed something in this world.

She’d had Negan before. Now, it was unclear if she’d have him back.

The Alexandria Safe Zone was a hive of activity. People were going about their lives like the end of the world didn’t happen, building, fixing, growing. It was almost encouraging to see if Y/N hadn’t known about the atrocities that had happened here.

There was still blood on the fences and mangled bodies of walkers piled against walls. The air was thick with the smell of burning flesh. Y/N forced herself to breathe through her mouth as the van trundled through the gate, coming to a stop as they closed behind it.

“We’re here,” Rick announced pointlessly and Y/N rolled her eyes.

“Look,” Tara murmured, “I know the Sanctuary was different but Rick’s not so bad.” Y/N scoffed at that and Tara frowned, letting the other woman pull her away. Waiting for everyone else to alight from the van, Y/N climbed out last, coming face to face with Rick.

A black woman with dreadlocks was approaching, a frown on her face and Rick stepped away, giving the Omega some space.

“So, you gonna take me to him?” she demanded as the black woman came to a stop beside him, almost sneering at Y/N now. “Do I know you?”

“Michonne,” the woman offered, holding out her hand and Y/N respectfully shook it, wondering if the nervous look on Rick’s face meant this was his partner. “You must be Y/N.” The disdainful look had somewhat dissipated but it was clear Michonne did not like her.

“Yeah,” Y/N mumbled. “Look, can I see Negan now or not?”

Rick grimaced. “Not right now. Let’s get you settled in somewhere -”

“You seem to be under the impression I’m your guest,” Y/N retorted. “I’m not here for a fucking spa day, Rick.” Michonne blinked at the venom in the Omega’s tone. “Take me to Negan.”

“How about,” Michonne offered, patting Rick’s arm, “I take her? You should go and see Judith. She’s missed you.” Guilt swam across the Alpha’s expression and Y/N wondered how this man had risen to the top of the food chain. How the hell had he beaten Negan?

“You’re right,” Rick acquiesced and Michonne smiled but not pleasantly. “I’ll see you later.” He kissed her on the cheek and Michonne returned it, her eyes sliding to Y/N’s. The Omega watched dispassionately; she was here for a reason and didn’t want to be patient about it.

The taller woman gestured down the street, along the neatly lined little house in varying state of repair. Y/N nodded and fell into step beside her. “Were you with him before?” Michonne asked, clearly inferring Negan, and Y/N shook her head.

“No,” she replied, looking straight ahead. “I was married before all this. Mark, my Alpha, was my childhood sweetheart.” A sad smile crossed her face and Michonne felt a pang of sympathy for her. “It was a fairytale. We were trying for a baby when this all started.” Y/N paused and glanced up at the blue sky. “I never found out what happened to him.”

Michonne smiled a little and they continued the walk in silence. After ten minutes or so, they reached one of the huge terrace buildings.

“You’re keeping him in here?” Y/N whispered, her stomach churning. She shook her head but Michonne didn’t answer, climbing the steps to the front of the building. The door opened under her touch and she entered, Y/N close behind.

As soon as she stepped into the first corridor, she could smell him. The thick rich scent of Alpha permeated the building, making it clear he was the only occupant.

“This way,” Michonne instructed softly, leading Y/N down the hall towards a staircase. They descended into the belly of the building and Michonne unlocked a door, dismissing the lone guard stood outside. He wandered off to have a break, leaving Y/N and Michonne alone. “He’s in here.”

“Can I -”

The woman hesitated and Y/N frowned. “I shouldn’t really leave you alone with him.”

“He’s my Alpha,” Y/N pleaded. “He won’t hurt me. And it’s not like I could mount an escape with him.” Michonne still wasn’t convinced, her hand hovering over the handle. Y/N was close to breaking now, so near to him but barricaded by a simple door.

“I can’t,” Michonne whispered, opening the door and Y/N just about cried out in shock when she saw the cage bars across the room. She pushed past Michonne, rushing up to them, searching the darkness with her eyes.

Negan shifted on the floor, looking up. “Y/N?”

“Alpha,” she breathed, sinking to her knees and reaching through the bars. Negan moved into the dim light - he was thinner than he’d been, dark circles under his eyes and his head was shaved down to the skin. “Negan…” His fingers touched hers and Michonne watched him shuffle closer until he could put his arms through the bars of his cage and wrap them around the shuddering woman in front of him.

She felt like she was intruding. Which was wrong. Negan was a murderer. He wasn’t capable of this sort of compassion.

“You’re okay,” Negan murmured, finding Y/N’s mouth between the bars and bestowing desperate kisses on her. “Shit, baby girl, I was so fuckin’ worried.”

“I thought you were dead,” Y/N gasped, breaking down in tears as she clung to him through the cage. “Thought I’d lost you.”

Negan shushed her, cupping her face. “I’m here. I’m right here.”

“You’re in a cage,” she whispered, running the tips of her fingers through his beard. “Rick - he -”

“He what?” There was an edge to Negan’s voice that made Michonne stand straight, frowning at Y/N’s words. “Did he touch you?”

Y/N hesitated and a kernel of doubt began to grow in Michonne’s belly. Her fingers clenched reflexively as she waited for the Omega to continue. “I missed you,” she sobbed, collapsing against the bars. Her wide pleading eyes turned to Michonne. “Can’t I just go inside? I don’t care if you lock me up too just… please…”

Michonne shook her head, remaining silent. Even if she wanted to, only Rick had the key.

“You don’t wanna be in here, sweetheart,” Negan soothed, turning Y/N’s attention back to him.

“I need you,” Y/N keened, pushing her arms through the bars. “Please.” She was crying now, tears streaming down her cheeks and Negan looked at Michonne with an expression she’d never seen on his face.

“Can you get her out of here?” he asked, his voice soft and Y/N cried out in protest, clutching at his t-shirt. Negan eased her fingers off of the fabric, pushing her away even as she fought. “Go with Michonne, Y/N,” he ordered, his tone gentle but firm and Y/N whimpered, not wanting to obey the order. “She’ll look after you.” His eyes met Michonne’s again and she nodded, once.

The Beta woman approached and pulled Y/N to her feet, holding her up. She helped her from the room, turning to give Negan one last look. He stared back, something indistinguishable in his eyes.

“Take care o’her,” he requested and Michonne paused a moment. “Watch Rick.” Her eyes narrowed and she closed the door, leaving Negan alone once again.


	5. Chapter 5

The house they’d given her a room in was nice, like one of those showhomes on television long ago. But Y/N couldn’t find any rest on the mattress they’d allocated. By the time she’d recovered from her emotions, Michonne had led her here, leaving her to adjust.

What was she supposed to adjust to?

Her Alpha was imprisoned, away from her. She was in a foreign land for all intents and purposes; Alexandria was not her home. She needed Negan. She needed her home with her blankets and her nest. This place was hell.

By the time night fell, she was restless and her heat was only getting worse. Michonne had told her there were three Alphas in the town, including Rick, and she’d housed her with other women, all Betas. It probably wasn’t a good idea to go exploring unprotected and in heat.

A knock on the door distracted her from her musings and it opened without waiting for an invite. The round smiley face of an older lady appeared and Y/N looked up at her, frowning.

“Hello, dear. Michonne told us we’d have an extra mouth in the house.” The woman stepped into the room, her smart little bun and quaint blue dress making her look like she’d fallen out of a Betty Crocker recipe book. “I’m Gladys. And you’re Y/N, yes?”

Y/N nodded and got to her feet and Gladys beamed and clasped her hands together. “Hi,” Y/N offered weakly. “Sorry, I was tired and Michonne said this was my room -”

“Oh, it is, it is!” Gladys exclaimed. “I was just coming to see if you would like to join me, Lucy and Camille for dinner.”

“D-dinner?” Y/N squeaked and her stomach rumbled as if it were answering her question.

A pleasant laugh left Gladys and she motioned for Y/N to follow her out of the room. “Now, we don’t have an awful lot, but I’m working hard to grow some lovely veggies. And Daryl caught a few rabbits that he was happy to share around.” Y/N nodded, continuing a few feet behind the older woman as they descended to the ground floor. The dining room table was set, candles and silverware, almost like they weren’t in the middle of the fucking apocalypse.

“Hi, Y/N!” The bright cheery voice made Y/N jump and she was suddenly contending with an armful of another person. The girl hugged her tightly and pulled away, smiling so hard, Y/N thought she was possibly on drugs. “I’m Lucy. Camille will be joining us in a minute.”

“Hi,” Y/N whispered, letting Gladys guide her to a chair.

The whole affair was bizarre but the women were friendly as they chatted over the meal Gladys had made. It was a simple stew, a little thin and watery but better than the food Y/N had eaten recently. She wasn’t as good at procuring the good stuff without Negan’s voice behind her.

Omegas were usually homemakers, mothers, carers. They weren’t built to work hard long days. Y/N wasn’t that kind of Omega.

Not that it helped her much when everyone treated her like spun glass.

When dinner was done, Y/N insisted she was tired, avoiding whatever singing-campfire session they were likely planning. These women were too nice, sickly sweet - it all felt like a trap. Y/N didn’t trust them and she didn’t trust this place.

Her bedroom door had a lock on it, thank God, and she entrenched herself on the mattress, clinging to the thin blanket. More than ever, she wished she’d never let Negan go. She should have convinced him to leave with her at the start, fuck everyone else. It should have just been them.

One by one, the women in the house went to bed and Y/N was plunged into silence. the Sanctuary was always filled with some sort of sound - buzzing from the generators or the lights, men shouting at each other over games of poker to win points. But Alexandria was deathly quiet.

Y/N got up from her bed and approached the window, looking out to the street below. It was empty and she decided it was late enough to hazard a walk. Being cooped up was making her anxious and she needed to just be close to her Alpha.

Sitting on the steps was as good as she was going to get but she’d take it.

Slipping from the house was easy. The doors weren’t locked and it wasn’t guarded. Y/N hadn’t expected them to leave her unattended but she supposed, they assumed she was a weak Omega like everyone else did. Something finally working in her favor in this whole shitstorm.

Navigating Alexandria was difficult at night and a few times, Y/N had to retrace her steps. She remembered the solar panels and where they kept the food stores - Negan’s prison was north from that. He’d shown her, a long time ago, how to track and hunt animals. Her Alpha was the only one who didn’t underestimate her abilities.

It was cool outside and Y/N shivered, rubbing her bare arms. She’d only been wearing a vest and the small bag she’d brought with her from the Sanctuary hadn’t contained a sweater.

Relief flooded her when she spotted the building and she jogged to the steps, hesitating to try the door. It was locked and her heart sank, prompting her to drop to her ass and sit on the steps. Negan’s scent was faint and she inhaled, trying to get as much of him as she could.

The acidic edge of Rick’s scent alerted her to his presence. Y/N’s head snapped up and she looked around seeing nothing and then she heard it - footsteps behind her,  _ inside _ the building. What the hell was Rick doing here so late?

Without any time to hide, Y/N managed to get to her feet before the door swung open inwards and Rick stepped out, jumping back in surprise when he saw her. She stared at him, watching like a hawk as he closed the door and locked it again.

“I didn’t know you were here,” he said, not looking at her. “It’s late. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

Y/N shrugged. “I can’t sleep.”

Rick looked her up and down, finally meeting her eyes. “You saw him, didn’t you?”

“You know it’s not enough,” she ground out, her teeth clenched together. His eyebrows drew together in a frown and Y/N kept her eyes focused, challenging him. “He’s my Alpha. Keeping me from him is -”

“Punishment,” Rick interrupted casually. “He doesn’t get a life. He doesn’t get freedom.” He reached out and took hold of her upper arm, his touch feeling like it burned her bare skin. “Why should I let him have his Omega when Maggie lost her husband?”

Y/N’s eyes were watering but she couldn’t free her arm from his hold. “Why am I being punished?” she demanded.

“You’re not,” Rick scoffed. “You have other options. There are Alphas who live here, some at the Hilltop. Think there might be one at the Kingdom.”

“You think I’m going to  _ date _ ?” she snarled, finally getting her arm free, stumbling backward down the steps. Her hands flailed out, clutching for the railing and with a cry, she managed to stabilize herself. Rick was halfway to her but Y/N shoved him off, baring her teeth at him. His eyes zeroed in on the sharp little canines and arousal filled his gaze. “You stay the fuck away from me,” she warned.

“I’m just sayin’,” Rick licked his lips, leering at her, a completely different man from the one who’d been stood there seconds before, “options.”

Y/N backed away, almost falling again. She reached the bottom and ran, not stopping until her lungs started to burn. Not knowing Alexandria very well had led her into a maze of streets and she realized she was utterly lost. “Negan,” she whispered, dropping to her knees in the middle of the road, clutching her face with her hands.

“Y/N?” Tara’s voice made her look up and she met the eyes of the soft spoken brunette, filled with concern. “Is everything okay?”

She could only managed to shake her head in return, bursting into fresh tears. Tara frowned and rushed forward, wrapping her arms around the shivering Omega.

“C’mon, honey. Let’s get you inside and we can talk.”


	6. Chapter 6

The door opened less than twenty minutes after Rick had left and Negan frowned, shifting from the cot they’d given him as a bed. When Rick’s face came into view, the light from the corridor casting an eerie glow on his face, Negan outright snarled.

“I can smell her on you,” he ground out through bared teeth.

“Is it that easy to get a rise outta you?” Rick drawled, leaning back as he walked closer. “Just a whiff?”

Negan was at the bars in a second but Rick remained just out of reach, smirking at him. “If you touch her, I will kill you.”

“Finally,” the other Alpha grinned, “we’re getting somewhere.” He moved across the room, keeping out of Negan’s grasp, picking up the plastic chair that leaned against the wall. Dragging it across the floor, Rick sat in front of Negan and studied him. The bigger Alpha was almost foaming at the mouth, rage filling his dark eyes with murderous intent. “I know you love her.”

Rick didn’t get a reply to his statement and he leaned to the side, slipping the stolen Polaroid photo from his back pocket and staring at it.

“She is beautiful,” he mused, stroking one finger over the image of Y/N’s face.

“Where did you get that?” Negan growled.

The smile on Rick’s face only angered him more. “I had a good look around the Sanctuary,” he informed his captive, scratching his chin. “I was surprised you let her have her own room. An Omega like that?” He whistled low and shook his head. “You risked a hell of a lot.” Negan glowered as Rick leaned forward, still smiling. “And you lost it.”

Negan grabbed the bars of the cage. “You really think you’re worthy of her?” he spat. “You think Michonne won’t mind you sliding your dick into another woman?” He grinned. “Go ahead, try it. Y/N’ll tear your throat out with those pretty little teeth o’hers.”

Rick nodded, humming softly. “Yeah, those are… not something I’ve ever seen before. Where did you find her?”

The other man gave no reply, turning away and slouching to his cot. “She’s not an Omega you fuck with, Rick.”

“I’ll decide that. She’s in heat. Pretty soon, she’ll be begging for whatever Alpha knot she can get.” Rick paused, watching Negan’s shoulders tense with anger. “There’s plenty of them to trade her to.” Negan’s back went ramrod straight and Rick smiled, getting exactly what he wanted.

“You sick piece of shit,” Negan chuckled, shaking his head. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” He turned, fixing Rick with a deadly glare. “You gonna trade in people now, Rick?”

“You did,” Rick returned coldly, remembering the taste of Glenn’s blood in his mouth. “I should take it all away from you. Like you did to Maggie. Like you’ve done to countless others!”

“I did what I did to keep people  _ alive _ ,” Negan roared back, rushing at the bars. “You’re the fucking monster, Rick. Not me.”

Rick stood up, leaving the chair where it was. “Don’t worry, Negan,” he said softly, winking at his prisoner, ignoring his pointless growling. “I’ll make sure Y/N gets exactly what she needs.” He tossed the photo through the bars and left.

*****

Her head hurt.

Hours of sobbed confessions to Tara and Miranda, the lady from the van, had left her exhausted and eventually, the women left her to sleep on their couch. Y/N had never felt this bone-deep weariness before and she was frightened that she would give up.

Telling these people she was Negan’s Omega was supposed to fill her with a sense of shame when she saw their expressions. But they couldn’t understand. Betas couldn’t grab the depths of that bond, of that dependence on someone. How could they? They didn’t need to carry a mark. They didn’t need to belong.

And Y/N didn’t belong in Alexandria. She didn’t belong with anyone but Negan.

They’d offered little comfort, distancing themselves the more Y/N told them. She told them about Rick’s behavior towards her which seemed to concern Miranda more than Tara. The Alexandria resident thought Rick was quirky and odd, sometimes bordering on nuts - Miranda was from Oceanside and didn’t know Rick. She found him to be frightening and intimidating.

Eventually, her fatigue overrode her ability to stay awake and Y/N drifted into a fitful sleep, her fever slowly gathering pace as she slept. Tara checked on her a few hours after they’d let her be and instantly knew that something was wrong.

When she managed to rouse the Omega, Y/N was slurring her words and sweating like someone had dumped a bucket of water on her. Her skin was pallid and clammy and she could barely keep her eyes open.

Tara didn’t know what else to do except to send Miranda to find Saddiq, the doctor who only joined them recently. Miranda obliged, leaving Tara with the sick Omega, attempting to bring her temperature down with cool rags.

Thirty minutes later, Miranda returned. Saddiq was with her, closely followed by Rick. The Alexandria leader stiffened when he walked in the door, lingering behind as the doctor approached Y/N’s shivering form.

“She’s in heat,” he observed and Tara gave him a look. “What?” Saddiq asked. “She needs her Alpha.”

“Her Alpha is Negan,” Miranda whispered and Saddiq lifted his head to look at Rick. The Alpha shrugged.

“Rick, can’t you -” Tara didn’t want to suggest it but it seemed to be the only option. “I mean, she’s innocent. She didn’t do anything to us.” Rick’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“Are you suggesting I let her go to a murderer?” he questioned quietly and the room fell silent save for Y/N’s labored breathing.

Saddiq cleared his throat, raising a hand. “If I may,” he started, continuing when no one objected, “Y/N is likely going to start getting really sick, really fast. She needs her Alpha. Or, failing that,” his eyes met Rick’s, “ _ any _ Alpha. Her body needs the enzyme contained in an Alpha bite.”

“Can’t one just… bite her?” Miranda asked, shrugging at Tara, who returned the gesture.

Rick shook his head. “Doesn’t work like that,” he muttered and Saddiq hummed in agreement.

“No, she would need to be marked. The only way to ensure that happens is -”

Tara cleared her throat. “Yeah, we got it.”

“So what do we do?” Miranda asked. “Are there any other Alphas in Alexandria?”

“We can’t just give her to someone,” Tara exclaimed. “She’s a human being. She’s sick. And you just wanna hand her off like some kind of sex toy?” Saddiq’s eyes widened and he looked away, clearly wishing he was anywhere else.

“Rick’s an Alpha,” he muttered suddenly and Rick’s head shot up. “And there’s Lucas. Or Billy but he’s… he’s got a wife I think.”

“Rick’s with Michonne,” Tara said quietly, meeting her leader’s eyes and he stared back with little emotion on his face. “She said -”

“What?” Rick asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She said she didn’t like you,” Tara exhaled, ignoring Miranda’s puzzled gaze. “Said you’d had a confrontation.” Rick was watching her now, something in his eyes that put her on edge, gave her pause when she reconsidered Y/N’s words. He seemed… angry. “I think maybe, she should have her real Alpha. I don’t know a lot about Omegas but they rely on bonding right?”

Rick shrugged but Saddiq was clearly deep in thought. “Omegas aren’t really a field I’ve studied in,” the doctor admitted, watching Y/N as she fought to keep her eyes open. “But this… this is an extreme reaction. Do we know when her heat started? It can be exacerbated by stress.”

“Maybe night before last,” Rick grumbled, hanging back by the door and crossing his arms over his chest. “She seemed fine when we left the Sanctuary.”

“She’s in an unfamiliar place,” Saddiq continued. “She’s probably overwhelmed by a lot of new sensory input - most Omegas have heightened a sense of smell, they’re more affected by stressful situations.” He leaned over, checking Y/N’s eyes and her lips parted, revealing the small elongated canines that had Rick completely enthralled. “Oh.” Saddiq drew back, eyes wide. “She’s…”

“You ever seen that before?” Rick asked, curiosity getting the better of him. “The teeth.”

An uneasy smile tugged at Saddiq’s lips. “Only in medical textbooks.” He lifted Y/N’s top lip, getting a better look at the canines. “She’s a regressive Omega.”

Tara blinked. “What the fuck is that?”

“Some Omegas and Alphas carry a specific genetic code that never evolved. Betas are the evolutionary descendants of Alphas and Omegas, that’s why there aren’t many left. It’s all very interesting.”

“Yeah, it’s fascinating,” Rick drawled, “but it still doesn’t solve our immediate problem.” He looked at Saddiq. “How long has she got?”

The doctor shrugged, standing straight. “Heats generally last three to five days. But she’s been forcibly separated from her Alpha. Her biology is working on a primal scale, there’s no telling what damage it could do if she’s not…” His eyes darted away and his cheeks darkened. “Y’know.” Saddiq offered a nervous laugh and shrugged his shoulders.

Rick sighed, swaying away from the door and scrubbing a hand through his hair. “Look,” Tara said quietly, “she needs him. Whether we like it or not, she’s an innocent person, Rick. She told me last night; she’s never killed anyone.”

“You asked her?” Rick murmured and Tara shook her head.

“She told us everything. How she got to the Sanctuary, what she was before,” Miranda filled in, shrugging her shoulders, at a loss of what to do. “She’s a good person, Rick. We can’t let her die.”

He sighed, eyes drifting back to the Omega floating in and out of consciousness. Before he could conjure anything to say, someone knocked at the door and all four upright occupants of the room turned. Rick moved back to the door, opening it to find Michonne on the doorstep.

“Daryl said he saw you coming this way,” she smiled. “Everything okay?” She leaned to the side, spotting Y/N on the couch. “Rick? What’s going on?” Pushing past him into the house, she missed the way Rick’s jaw clenched and irritation flared in his eyes. “Is she okay?” Michonne asked Saddiq and the doctor gaped at her, unsure what to say.

“She’s gonna be fine,” Rick said in a low voice and Michonne turned to look at him with confusion narrowing her eyes to thin slits.

“What is going on here, Rick?” Her tone was dark, accusing and Rick swallowed, stepping forward to her.

“Nothin’,” he murmured. “Y/N needs an Alpha.”

“She needs  _ her _ Alpha,” Tara interjected and Rick threw her an exasperated look. “She won’t want anyone else, Rick. Finding another Alpha and giving her to him?” She paused, folding her arms across her chest. “That’s rape. Sexual slavery.”

Rick didn’t respond and Michonne touched his cheek gently, drawing his attention back to her. “She’s not wrong. But you can’t just let her die like that.”

“It wouldn’t be slow,” Saddiq murmured, checking Y/N’s temperature again. She was warmer than before, barely conscious. “And it would be excruciatingly painful.” He fixed his gaze on Alexandria’s leader. “Has she seen her Alpha since she got here? That may have exacerbated the heat.”

Michonne closed her eyes for a brief second, letting her shoulders sag. “Yes.”

Rick’s fists were clenching at his sides and he looked at the stricken Omega, struggling to remain in the room. Her scent was potent and the only things holding him back were the other people in the room and the mark on her throat.

The mark that taunted him.

“Rick,” Michonne whispered, “I know things have been rough since Carl. But we can’t sentence this woman to death or the alternative. She needs Negan. And I don’t like it either -” She paused, smiling softly and taking his hand. “- but we’re  _ not _ monsters.”

The Alpha stared back at her, saying nothing in response. The decision was too hard for him to process in that moment, overwhelmed by his more primal instincts and he stepped away, shaking his head. “I can’t make that decision,” he grunted, walking out of the door, leaving it swinging wide open.

“So what do we do?” Miranda squeaked. “Should we take her to the infirmary?”

“I can give her some fluids, maybe try and bring the fever down. But there’s no medical cure for this.” Saddiq looked up at Michonne. “What do we do?”

She didn’t have an answer.


	7. Chapter 7

He was pacing. He had been since Rick had left him in his cage to stew in the unknown. Y/N was so close but so far, the lingering scent of her torturing him until Negan thought he might snap. His hand clenched around the photograph tightly as he moved. Nothing had pushed him this far over the edge, nothing Rick had ever done had surpassed this.

Still, Negan didn’t believe Rick could go through with it. The man was bordering on insane but someone… someone would stop him. Maybe his own conscience. Or Y/N’s vicious little jaws.

She’d never killed. In a world like this, that privilege was reserved for the very young and the very old. There was no way to survive without some measure of death, although Negan tried to prevent as many as he could. While you couldn’t survive without death, there was nothing without people. Rick didn’t seem to get that. He killed without thinking.

Simon had done the same, his thirst for power overruling the rational thoughts Negan had tried to instill in him. It seemed Negan was putting his faith in a lot of the wrong places these days and Y/N was the one paying the price. He could handle being locked up for a few years. He hadn’t really thought about what would happen to her - he’d been confident he could win this.

Eugene’s little trick with the bullets had been a homerun for the Alexandrians that Negan never saw coming.

There was a good chance Negan would have been smarter if he’d ignored her. It was a snap decision, one gloomy afternoon in the laundry room, and he’d been curious about the bold Omega his crew had found on a scouting mission. The moment he scented her, he was entirely fucked.

His legs started to ache with the weight of his fatigue. He hadn’t slept properly on the uncomfortable little cot and the food they fed him was slightly less than palatable. It was past sunrise, at least by a few hours, and still no one had come to bring him breakfast.

Something was wrong.

Negan stopped, looking up at the slit of a window Rick had afforded his prison. He couldn’t hear a thing which wasn’t unusual. The grate came out into a small yard, locked and secured. His captors made sure he was deprived of anything unless they gave it.

He didn’t realize he was clenching his fists until blood was dripping from his knuckles, trickling out of the crescent moon gashes he’d clawed into his hand. Negan looked down at his bloodied palm, an idea coming to him.

A smile curled his lip.

“Come get me, Rick,” he drawled.

*****

She woke to white walls and confusion. The bed she was laying on was an actual bed, not a mattress on a floor or a couch in someone’s else’s house. It was a clinical looking room, maybe not originally a medical facility but the machines and IV indicated she’d run into some trouble.

Y/N laid still with her eyes on the ceiling. Her entire body was numb, senses tingling and she could scent something but her mind was fuzzy, not giving her all of the details. Had they sedated her?

“Look who’s awake,” a familiar voice murmured and Y/N’s heart started to race. She struggled to sit up, eventually getting there and finally locking eyes on the person sharing her room. “Hey, sweetheart,” Negan whispered, smiling at her and Y/N felt like she could cry in relief.

“What happened?” she asked, looking down at herself.

“You got sick,” he replied, “courtesy of Rick the Prick. They only put me in here with you because the doc thought it might help.”

Y/N ground her teeth together. “What would help would be not keeping you hostage.”

“I’m not a hostage, darlin’,” Negan chuckled. “I’m an  _ example _ . For Rick’s new vision.” He said the words mockingly, lifting his hand as far as he could to spread his fingers and wave in jest. The cuffs holding him to the bed were on both wrists and Y/N grimaced, trying to shift her legs. “Don’t you fucking dare,” Negan growled. “You’re too weak.”

She gasped and fell back, arching in pain. Negan rattled his cuffs on the metal bed rail, yelling out. The door opened and Saddiq returned, frowning at the commotion. Y/N went still, breathing heavily and the doctor marched over to her, his entrance followed by Rick’s only a moment later.

Negan’s eyes narrowed. “This is because of you,” he ground out.

Rick didn’t answer, concentrating on the sweating and panting Omega on the other bed. “Is she okay?”

Saddiq checked her over before leaning over her directly. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Like shit,” Y/N croaked and Negan chuckled, earning a dirty look from Rick. “Is this my heat?” she asked, frowning up at Saddiq. “It’s never been this bad.”

The doctor nodded, checking her temperature and pulse, his eyebrows knitting together more with each moment. “The forced separation from your Alpha has probably sent your system into overdrive,” he murmured. “I’m not an expert though. Have you come into contact with any strange scents or cleaned excessively at all?”

Y/N sucked in a breath as Rick looked over at Negan. “I think you’ll find that’s because of you.”

“I never intended to leave her,” Negan replied darkly. He’d intended to win and both men knew it. “This is all you, Rick.”

“Stop it,” Y/N gasped, grabbing hold of Saddiq’s arm and he panicked for a brief second before realizing she only wanted assistance sitting up. “I’m not a fucking object in a pissing contest for the biggest dick,” she growled. “I’m not your pawn,” she directed that comment at Negan, “and I’m not a possession,” that comment went to Rick, “so why don’t you both  _ back the fuck up _ while  _ I _ decide what’s happening here.”

Both men fell silent. The doctor tried not to smile, a little in awe at how Y/N quelled the two powerful men in the room. Negan slowly looked at her sheepishly, regret filling his chocolate eyes. “You’re right,” he confessed, nodding his head. “I’m sorry, baby.”

Rick swallowed and stepped back. He’d spent the last few hours walking around Alexandria after he’d found Negan with bloody wrists in his cell. At first, he’d thought it was a trick and maybe it had been - Negan never got the chance to play it out when they reached the infirmary and found Y/N there.

Michonne had ordered Rick out. Whatever she’d said to Negan had made him do as he was told, despite his intense need to grab Y/N and get the fuck outta dodge.

He was done with this war. Done with trying to keep everyone alive. Negan only had one priority from now on.

“I still don’t like you,” Y/N muttered, fixing her eyes on Rick. “But you’re the leader of this community and I respect that. I’m not lookin’ to undermine your authority or cause any shit. But you… you are an asshole. And you fucking owe me.” Rick didn’t respond and Y/N stretched her arm out, flexing her fingers. “I don’t care if you wanna lock me in the damn cell with him; I’m going to die if I’m not with him.”

“There are others -” Rick started but Y/N’s short snarl cut him off.

“I don’t  _ want _ another Alpha,” Negan bristled at the suggestion, “I want  _ my _ Alpha and he’s right there.” Y/N was almost in tears now, anger making her blood boil. “And I don’t want to deal with you anymore. I want to talk to Michonne.”

The dread on Rick’s face was amusing for the restrained Alpha and he nodded, slouching back out of the door and closing it behind him. Saddiq touched Y/N’s shoulder, looking at her in concern.

“You need to rest,” he urged.

“Help me up,” Y/N pleaded and the doctor hesitated, glancing over at Negan. “Come on, doc. You say you’re no expert but you know what I need. I need to be close to him.” Negan raised an eyebrow, watching quietly. Before Saddiq could raise a case, the door opened and Michonne stepped in.

“Saddiq?” she asked and the doctor looked up, relieved. “Do you mind stepping out for a moment?”

He bolted without being told again and Michonne shut the door behind him, looking over at the two patients. Negan opened his mouth but Michonne was faster, raising a threatening finger in his direction.

“You don’t speak,” she ordered with a sneer, “or I will cut your balls off.”

Y/N liked her.

Michonne’s expression calmed and she approached Y/N’s bed, smiling at her. “How are you feeling?”

“Do I need to give you the standard “I’m fine”?” Y/N grinned back, wincing a little as she tried to shift into a more comfortable position. “Honestly, I feel like I got trampled.”

“Rick said you didn’t want to talk to him anymore,” the other woman asked, obviously a little confused. “Do you mind if I ask why?”

Y/N’s eyes flicked to Negan’s and his face darkened. He didn’t need to ask. Michonne waited as Y/N raised her chin. “Rick’s an Alpha. He can’t help the way he reacts. And he… lost someone recently. Didn’t he?” Michonne nodded. “He’s gonna be all over the place, Michonne. He won’t know if he’s coming or going.”

“Best be fucking going,” Negan muttered, earning a death glare from Michonne. He laid back, keeping his mouth shut for fear of the brutal sword he knew she carried.

“Don’t worry about Rick,” Michonne assured Y/N, patting her hand. “He’s a good man at heart. It’s been… rough for everyone.” She purposefully didn’t look at Negan, who clenched his jaw and looked towards the barred window. “No one is going to be happy if we start giving Negan luxuries, Y/N. You have to understand that.”

Y/N nodded, not looking at him. She felt ashamed of the people he’d killed, even if he’d always been truthful with her about why. “He’s hurt a lot of people,” she whispered, still keeping her eyes off of him. “And I know you and Tara and Miranda… you think I’m crazy. But he’s  _ my _ Alpha and… I can’t fight fate.”

“Why does it have to be a fight?” Negan sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

Michonne was quiet for a moment, sparing the restrained man a glance before she fixed her eyes back on Y/N. “As far as anyone knows, Negan was hurt in the cell. He’s in here. Only Tara and Miranda know you’re here.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Y/N asked, frowning.

“No one knows you’re in the same room,” Michonne informed her and the pieces started to fall into place. “I’m doing this because I feel like you’re a good person, Y/N. God knows, you don’t deserve to be stuck with a man like him,” she grunted and Negan scowled up at the ceiling tiles, “but I’m not going to let someone die when there’s a way to prevent it.”

“Other people wouldn’t see it that way,” Y/N said quietly, folding her hands in her lap.

Michonne shrugged. “This isn’t the world we were used to,” she whispered back. “You’re both under isolation for forty-eight hours. Access to the infirmary is restricted but that’s all the time I can give. Only Saddiq will have access to the room.”

She stood up, looking directly at Negan.

“And you,” she hissed, making the man look at her. “I am not doing this for you. You’re a tool for her survival. You got that?”

“Loud and clear,” Negan drawled, smirking nonetheless. Michonne leaned over, pressing the keys to Negan’s cuffs into the palm of your hand.

Y/N stared at them, barely noticing the woman’s departure until the door clicked shut and locked from the outside. Negan sat up, watching her carefully.

“You okay, kitten?”

A sigh escaped her lips and she nodded, lifting her head to look at him. “You’ve killed a lot of people, Negan.”

He nodded once. “I have.”

“You never listened to me when I said it was going to go wrong,” she continued, feeling her bottom lip tremble. “This is your fault.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed but the Omega wasn’t done. “The only way for us to be together again is to do what these people want.”

Negan didn’t reply, staring her with indiscernible emotion on his face. Y/N looked down at the keys in her hand.

“I’m tired,” she whispered, closing her eyes, a single tear escaping her lashes. Her Alpha yearned to go to her and Y/N held the keys up, throwing them weakly to land in his lap before she rolled over onto her side, shivering.

Ten seconds later, a warm body curled up behind her on the small bed, his huge frame cocooning her protectively.

“I shoulda listened to you,” he whispered, kissing the back of her neck and Y/N nodded, swallowing down a sob. Negan held her close and she let herself drift, falling asleep in his embrace.


	8. Chapter 8

She woke when an itchiness covered her skin, her senses going haywire at the feel of warm Alpha underneath her. Negan had shifted at some point, rolling onto his back with her tucked into his side, her head pillowed on his chest.

Y/N could hear his heart beating under her ear. She smiled, pressing closer and Negan groaned in his sleep. Her belly rolled with arousal, every movement guided by her instincts.

Sitting up, she tossed the blankets away, shedding the leggings and shirt she’d been wearing. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she adjusted it so it didn’t get in her eyes before focusing on her target.

He was only wearing sweats and a t-shirt. Easy enough.

Her fingers slid under the waistband of his pants and Y/N grinned when she realized that as usual, Negan wasn’t wearing underwear. His cock was already at half-mast just from her scent in his sleep and he moaned when she started to drag the sweats down.

He didn’t wake when she gripped his cock and stroked him, running her thumb over the tip. Her reward was a dribble of pre-cum and she scooped it up with her tongue, swallowing it down with a decadent hum. The Alpha slept on, the ghost of a grin on his lips as Y/N closed her lips around his swollen member, coaxing him to full hardness.

When she was satisfied she could get what she wanted, Y/N straddled the Alpha, curling her body over him, rubbing the length of her soaked slit against his bare cock. Negan’s head rolled as his eyes started to open and she twisted her hips, sinking down on him just a couple of inches.

“Oh, shit,” Negan groaned loudly, his hands automatically grabbing her hips to guide her the rest of the way down. It wasn’t hard - Y/N was soaked, practically dripping slick onto his balls as she settled in his lap, his thick cock buried completely in her tight little snatch. “Fuck, baby girl, give a guy some warning.” His head hit the pillow with a thud. “Shit.”

Y/N smiled sweetly - her mind hadn’t kicked up to a gear beyond sex and she started to move, rolling her hips on top of the prone Alpha. Negan held still, encouraging her with his big hands, dragging her closer to her peak with every stroke.

“You want it, huh, sweetheart? Want Daddy’s cum?”

She nodded desperately, mewling when he reached up to squeeze her tits together. The bed protested at the treatment but neither of them noticed, too wrapped up in each other. Negan snarled as Y/N came, her pussy clenching around him.

God, he wanted to cum so fucking bad but this was the first time in weeks he’d had his hands on her. Negan had missed her scent, her warmth, he’d missed her perfect cunt. The last few hours of sleep were the best rest he’d had since he was back at the Sanctuary and he didn’t want to let go of her.

“Gonna make you cum again,” he growled, lifting her off of his dick. Y/N almost went limp, letting Negan position her on the bed, belly down and ass up. He didn’t waste any more time, feeding his cock back into her soaked channel and resuming his brutal pace.

Y/N clutched the pillow and cried out, the sound muffled by the fabric. Negan could feel his climax approaching and he needed to feel her cum on his knot. It was thickening around the base of his shaft, making each thrust harder as her pussy sought to swallow him whole.

She came, bucking underneath him as Negan force his knot into her, his body covering hers as he came. Thick spurts of cum filled Y/N’s belly as the Alpha sank his teeth into his mark on her throat. The bed slowly stopped squeaking and the room filled with the sound of heavy breathing. Negan withdrew from her throat, grunting as he shifted them both onto their sides, curling around her again.

A few moments passed where neither of them spoke. 

“What happens when this is done?” Y/N asked quietly.

Negan kissed her shoulder. “Get some rest, Y/N,” he ordered softly. “Your heat ain’t done.”

*****

The forty-eight hours was over too soon.

Y/N sat in the room she’d been given, thinking about the proposal Michonne had laid out to her. She could stay in Alexandria, live here, see Negan an hour a week, in his cell. Or she could return to the Sanctuary and see him when her heat required.

Alexandria wasn’t her home. the Sanctuary had been exactly that for her. She wanted the meagre possessions she’d kept over the years and the familiar scent of her room.

But she also wanted Negan.

Michonne had given her as much time as she needed to decide. In the meantime, she could help out around the community, get to know them a bit better. She hadn’t exactly gone out of her way to make friends since the world ended.

Rick was on lock-down, under his Beta’s orders. He needed to grieve and recover himself, be the man Michonne knew him to be. Everything was kept under wraps; the fewer people knew about Y/N’s involvement with Negan the better.

Her first visit was bittersweet. Michonne came for her at noon and took her to the Alexandrian prison. She didn’t stay, giving them an hour of privacy. It wasn’t like there was much they could do through bars.

Y/N sat as close as she could, Negan’s arms almost all the way around her as he nuzzled her shoulder. “I hate this,” she whispered. “I hate being separated from you.”

“Are they treatin’ you okay?” he asked, looking up at her face with concern. “I worry…”

“It’s not like there’s anything you can do,” she snorted and Negan chuckled. “But they’re treating me fine. They’re nice people.”

Negan sighed, kissing her shoulder again. “Didn’t doubt it.” They settled into silence, just absorbing the other’s scent, knowing it would be a week before they saw each other again. “Have you decided what to do?” he asked, aware of the deal Michonne had offered.

“No,” Y/N admitted, looking over at the door. Her time was almost up. “This isn’t my home,” she whispered, “but my home doesn’t have you.”

The door opened and Negan released his hold on her, standing up as Michonne waited at the door. Y/N got to her feet and reached through the bars, taking his hand.

“I love you.” His eyes went wide. She’d said it plenty of times before, in passing -  _ that’s why I love ya, god, why do I have to love such a stubborn ass _ \- but this was direct. An announcement. Y/N wouldn’t leave him.

She smiled and he smiled back.

“See you next week,” Negan murmured, lifting her hand to kiss her knuckles.

And then she was gone. Stolen away from him again.

*****

Y/N raked her fingers through her hair, slowly heading down the hallway to the exit. Michonne was beside her, offering a silent comfort, ironic considering she was the one in control of the situation. She opened the door for the quiet Omega, locking it as she stepped out onto the steps.

Daryl was stood at the bottom, frowning up at them.

“Daryl,” Michonne exclaimed, “you’re back from Hilltop.”

“So what? He gets conjugal visits now?” Daryl growled and Y/N stared at him, her eyes narrowing as his fists clenched at his sides. “He’s really sufferin’, ain’t he?” He scoffed in disgust and turned away, leaving Y/N and Michonne at the top of the steps.

“Don’t worry about him,” Michonne soothed. “I’ll talk to him. You should head over to the gates, see if Rosita needs any help.” Y/N nodded, pausing before she left, looking up at Michonne. “You okay?”

“Do you…” Y/N frowned, trying to put her question into words. “Do you think he’ll ever be allowed out of there? I know… I know he’s done bad things, I’m not an idiot.” Michonne’s expression softened. “But this could… this could work out, right?”

The other woman descended the steps, placing a hand on Y/N’s shoulder. “This isn’t an easy situation for anyone. I can’t even imagine how hard it is for you to be stuck in the middle.”

“I just wish he’d listened to me when I told him to stop all this,” Y/N muttered, casting her eyes around the buildings that surrounded them.

Michonne chuckled. “Honey, we  _ all _ wish they’d listen to us. Go on. I’ll speak to Daryl and clear all of this up.” Y/N sighed and nodded, slowly wandering away. 

Rosita was building a new guard post with several of the other Alexandria residents and Y/N offered her help, not that she was sure what she could do. It was awkward; none of them knew who she was except that she’d come from the Sanctuary and Y/N was uncomfortable with the knowledge that Negan had probably killed someone one of them knew. Or all of them knew.

But she kept her mouth shut and helped out, losing an hour or two in timber hauling and laughing with the other people there. For a change, it was nice to socialize, and she quickly began to enjoy herself.

The good mood was dampened when Michonne appeared, a tall thin brunette with an obvious early baby bump accompanying her.

“Y/N?” Michonne called and Y/N looked up, frowning. Rosita copied her expression. “You mind comin’ with us?”

“It’s cool,” Rosita murmured, offering Y/N a smile and touching her shoulder. “Thanks for all your help. We’ll be here tomorrow if you wanna come back?”

“Sure,” Y/N nodded, smiling back at the other woman. Putting her tools down, she jogged over to to Michonne and the other woman, wondering what they wanted. “Hey,” she greeted, giving a little wave. “What’s up?”

They were out of earshot of the others and Michonne’s expression was wary. “Y/N, this is Maggie.” Y/N’s blood froze in her veins. The widow - the  _ pregnant _ widow. “She wanted to meet you.”

Maggie’s eyes were like steel; her gaze swept over Y/N, almost like she was appraising her. Y/N wasn’t stupid - she knew exactly what Negan had done to this woman’s husband. Killing Negan’s Omega would probably be the perfect revenge and fear started to curl in her belly.

“Hi,” she squeaked.

Maggie lifted her chin, the grief still raw in her expression. “Hi.”

Michonne shifted, looking as uncomfortable as anyone could in that situation. “I’ve gotta grab Judith from school,” she said brightly. “How about you guys head over to where Y/N is staying?” Y/N nodded and Maggie mimicked the gesture, both of them turning away as Michonne backed off, warily. Her eyes lingered on the two women, wondering if they’d kill each other before she got back.

For a few moments, there was silence between them and Y/N felt like she was going to throw up. Negan couldn’t have known she was pregnant. He would have told her. He didn’t have any secrets from her.

Did he?

“You’re his Omega,” Maggie murmured, folding her arms over her chest, baby bump more visible with the movement and Y/N nodded. “By choice?”

Y/N didn’t know how to answer that. Yes, now, she stayed with Negan by choice. Over time, she’d grown to love him, care about him. But in the beginning? There’d been friction. Mostly, her being with him had come from a lack of any other Alphas she could trust.

“I’m not sure,” Y/N admitted, giving Maggie a hesitant glance. “It’s… complicated.”

“Everything always is,” Maggie replied, one hand dropping to cover her bump.

“How far along are you?” Y/N’s question was monotone but inside, her heart was aching. She’d longed for children. The older she got, the more she resigned herself to never being a mother.

“A few months,” the other woman replied. “Do you have any children?” Y/N shook her head, looking down at the ground. “You want kids?”

“I did,” she whispered, looking down at the ground. “But… it’s not exactly…”

Maggie smiled tightly. “Yeah. I know.” The brunette stopped and Y/N turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. “I should hate you, you know. Negan…”

“I’m aware of what he did,” Y/N said slowly, locking eyes with Maggie. “And I… I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t make up for any of it. I hate that he did those things, that he did any of those things.” Her gaze went towards where she knew the makeshift prison was and her heart clenched. “I don’t expect you to like me. I don’t expect you to be happy with any of this.”

“I’m not,” Maggie informed her, coolly. “He should be dead.”

Y/N swallowed, clenching her jaw. “Maybe. But he’s not and we’re not and we have to figure out… how to live with all of this.” She felt nervous now, her hands shaking as Maggie’s features remained stern.

“Did you try to stop him?” she asked and Y/N looked up.

“More times than you could know,” the Omega admitted quietly. Maggie started to walk again, Y/N falling into step beside her. “He never listened. Didn’t matter how much I shouted at him or told him what I thought.”

Maggie smiled, a little wider this time. “Oh, I can see Negan loving an Omega bossing him around.”

Y/N giggled. “He hates it.” She sighed, thrusting her hands into her pockets as they approached the house Y/N was staying in. “But he’s got no choice now,” she added, “to listen to me. A literal captive audience.” Maggie let her take the lead into the house. “Y’know, I really thought you’d want me dead.”

A confused expression crossed Maggie’s face. “Why? Michonne told me all about you. Can’t help who you love.” Y/N blinked and looked at her, stopped in the foyer of the large residence with surprise on her face. Maggie sighed and shut the door. “Negan killed the love of my life. My husband.” Y/N flinched, having to force her lungs to work. “I want him dead. We’re clear on that. But I understand… why Rick is doing this, even if I think it’s wrong.”

With no answer to give Y/N nodded and Maggie smiled.

“How about we make some coffee? Michonne says she told me everything but I wanna know you.” She gestured to the kitchen. “Shall we?”

“Can you have coffee?”

Maggie laughed, taking Y/N’s arm. “Yeah, one cup’ll be fine.”


	9. Chapter 9

“I’m going to stay here,” she whispered, leaning her head against the bars as Negan’s hand rested on her thigh. He hummed in acknowledgment although Y/N knew he was happy about the decision. “I met Maggie.” Negan sat up at that, frowning at her. “Daryl saw me leaving here last week. The information got back to Maggie.”

“Doubt she’s happy about it,” he grumbled, glancing at the door.

“She wants you dead,” Y/N stated and his eyes drifted back to her. “I don’t blame her. What you did was…” She sighed. “I don’t have words for it and you know my feelings on the matter. I’m not gonna ruin the only time I get with you by pointing out that you’re a massive asshole.”

Negan grinned. “Please, don’t hold back.”

Y/N narrowed her eyes at him. “I still love you.”

“Second time you’ve said that,” he murmured, cupping her chin through the bars, running his thumb along her bottom lip. “Yet I’ve never said it back.”

She shrugged. “You don’t need to.”

He watched her for a moment and her heart raced, wondering if he would, if he’d dare express that sort of emotion to her. Y/N wasn’t a fool and she knew he loved her but saying it made it real for him and that put Y/N in danger.

Not that she wasn’t always in danger anyway.

“I miss you,” he muttered instead, taking her hand. It was an unusual display for him, affection and gentleness that didn’t go with the cocky Alpha she’d grown accustomed to. Captivity, the same four walls, it was grating on him. Rick was getting what he wanted after all.

“Don’t break,” Y/N whispered, meeting his eyes and squeezing his fingers. “Play the game but don’t let this break you, baby.”

Negan sighed, nodding. “Fucking hate this.”

“I know.” Y/N leaned against the bars again, smiling when Negan leaned in and pressed their foreheads together. “This can work, Negan. This new way. It’s not a bad idea. Maybe we have to suffer through - and I will point out that’s your fault -” Negan smiled and huffed a laugh at her continued petulance. “But we can do this.”

His dark eyes lifted and he kissed her softly. “I do,” he said quietly. “I do love you.”

The lock on the door clicked and it swung open. Y/N sat upright, frowning when Miranda appeared in the doorway, not Michonne. “Hey,” she greeted and Miranda looked at her with an indistinguishable emotion on her face.

“Hi, Y/N.” She closed the door, locking it and Negan’s fingers slid around Y/N’s wrist.

“I’ve still got ten minutes. Where’s Michonne?” Y/N asked, growing more concerned by the moment.

Miranda shrugged with a cold smile, her dark hair falling in her face. “Busy. They needed someone who could do the job.”

Y/N got to her feet and Negan’s grasp on her arm faltered, letting her slip from his hold. “Michonne sent you?”

“No,” Miranda grinned, pulling a gun from the waistband of her pants and aiming at Y/N’s head. The Omega’s hands came up in defense and Negan grabbed the bars of his cell, reaching for her. “Oceanside did.”

*****

Rick leaned over to hand Judith her juice cup, smiling when the little girl took it in her chubby hands and giggled loudly. Michonne watched, leaning against the counter with her cup between her fingers. He’d gotten better over the last week or so. Resting and spending time with Judith had brought him back from the edge of insanity that Carl’s death had caused.

Michonne felt like things were getting back to normal at last or as normal as they could be anyway. She still felt the pain of Carl’s loss deeply but they would remember him, remember what he wanted in this new world. Rick could be happy again. They all could be.

She tried not to think about Negan and the strange little Omega. Despite not wanting to, Michonne felt affection for the girl, pity for the fact that she loved a man like the former-Savior. It was hard to see them together, how clearly devoted to him she was and how much Negan didn’t deserve it.

The weekly hour was paltry really. But Michonne and Y/N had talked everything over when she’d accepted the offer to stay in Alexandria, pending a trip back to the Sanctuary for some of her things. Y/N understood how everyone felt about Negan and she wasn’t about to fight them on it.

Michonne couldn’t stand by and watch her die.

A knock on the front door distracted her from Rick playing peekaboo with Judith and Michonne placed her cup on the counter, heading to answer it. Tara was on the doorstep, looking concerned and Michonne frowned at her.

“Everything okay?”

Tara shook her head. “We’ve got a gun missing from the armory.” Michonne glanced over her shoulder before closing the door and stepping out onto the porch. “I was just finishing up the inventory. And it’s gone.”

“I’ve gotta go and get Y/N anyway,” Michonne replied, jogging down the steps with Tara behind her. “We’ll have a look and retake stock of everything, I’m sure it’s in there.” The other woman looked skeptical but followed anyway. As they approached the prison, Michonne frowned, coming to a stop. “Where are the keys?”

“Keys?” Tara repeated.

“I had them when I left,” Michonne continued, searching her pockets. “I didn’t take them out of my pants.”

“Did you drop them?” 

Her dreadlocks swung as she shook her head. “No. I left here, went to the food store and then -” Michonne’s expression deepened. “Miranda knocked some cans over. Maybe they fell out of my pocket.”

A gunshot echoed from inside the buildings ahead and Tara’s eyes widened. “Or they didn’t.”

Both women broke into a run and Michonne barreled through the door first, relieved to find it unlocked. She wasn’t so lucky when she got to the room that contained Negan’s cell. It was secured from the inside and Michonne hammered at the door with her fist.

“Get help,” she snapped at Tara, who ran, leaving her behind. “Y/N!” Michonne banged on the door again. She could hear voices inside, Negan’s deep rumble and Miranda. There was crying too - Y/N. 

Moments ticked by and someone called out her name, Negan, she thought.

Another gunshot and silence.

Negan roared.

Michonne held her breath, feeling her lungs burn more with each passing moment.

The gun fired again.

*****

“Miranda,” Y/N whispered, holding her hands up. “What’s going on?”

Her eyes slid from Y/N to Negan but the gun remained trained on the Omega. “Him. He’s responsible for all these deaths. And he gets to live? To enjoy time with his little slut?”

Y/N couldn’t help the gasp that left her lips. “Hey!”

Miranda fired the gun before either of them could react and the bullet tore through the flesh of Y/N’s upper arm, making her scream in pain and fall back. Negan cried out, straining through the bars as far as he could. The dark haired woman smirked as Y/N clutched her arm, blood trickling through her fingers as she managed to back up against the wall.

Negan couldn’t reach her and his eyes were wet. “Y/N.”

“He gets to live,” Miranda repeated. “My brother. My husband. My son.” She turned fiery eyes on Negan, her teeth bared. “They didn’t get to live.”

“I wasn’t responsible for that,” Negan said slowly and steadily. “Simon. Simon did that. Not me.”

“He was your soldier!” Miranda screeched, hearing the door upstairs open. “He was acting on  _ your _ orders.”

“It wasn’t,” Y/N gasped, tears pouring down her cheeks as fast as the blood was pumping from her arm. “Simon did that against orders. People are a resource.”

Miranda laughed, a high-pitched and half-crazed sound. “You know what I hear?” she asked, tilting her head. “I hear excuses. I couldn’t believe it when I found out what they were letting you do. Letting you continue this when I could never kiss my husband again? Never hug my brother or comfort my son? He was  _ twelve _ !”

“Lady, I’m sorry, I truly am,” Negan pleaded, holding his hands out in a gesture of surrender. “But that shit was  _ not _ me.”

The older woman was trembling now, the gun still aimed on Y/N, her finger tugging the trigger. Footsteps echoed down the hallway outside the cell. “This is how much I believe you,” Miranda growled and Negan’s eyes widened.

“Please! Kill me. If someone’s gotta die, it’s me.” He was begging now but Miranda wasn’t moving the gun from where she had it trained on his Omega. Y/N was sobbing, shaking her head, looking at him with wide tearful eyes and Negan felt his heart break in his chest. “Michonne!” His yell was only a second before the gunshot and the bullet hit Y/N in the throat, blood spraying from her jugular.

It wasn’t a kill-shot. She was going to choke to death on her own blood, feet away from him and Negan couldn’t  _ do _ anything. He had to watch. Y/N slumped over, unable to talk, the light fading in her eyes. His own sobs reached his ears as Miranda watched the Omega’s life slip away, blood pooling on the ground underneath her and creeping towards the bars of the cell.

His grief exploded from him in a roar and Mirana smiled, finally satisfied in her revenge. Michonne was banging on the door, screaming at her and the dark-haired woman fixed her eyes on Negan.

“Now you get to watch her die twice. It’s not quite enough but it will do.” She smiled, lifting the gun to her jaw, pressing the muzzle up underneath her chin. “This is your punishment, Negan.”

Her finger clenched and the bullet exploded out of the top of her skull a millisecond later, the sound of the shot echoing with the splatter of gore and brain matter on the ceiling and floor.

Negan collapsed onto his belly, stretching his arms under the edge of the cage as far as he could, only a few inches away from Y/N’s outstretched and cooling hand. He was crying, wet tears splashing onto the concrete. Y/N’s lifeless eyes stared at him; her lips were slightly parted, showing the edge of those little canines that had always fascinated him.

It seemed like forever before they got the door open. Negan didn’t move, laying just outside the puddle of blood as Y/N’s body started to jerk with the rapid turn of her cells into something undead. The whites of her eyes yellowed and she’d just started to make that horrific snarling noise when the lock on the door splintered and Michonne burst in, followed closely by Tara, Rick and Aaron.

“Oh, shit,” Tara exclaimed, turning away at the sight of the undead Omega and the corpse of someone she’d considered a friend. “What the fuck -”

Rick stalked to the cell, looking down at his broken, almost catatonic enemy. Michonne was beside him, crouching down over Y/N who was struggling to get up.

The knife slipped into her temple like butter and Negan watched her reanimated corpse go slack.

“What happened?” Rick asked, his tone much softer than Negan was expecting and the former-Savior blinked, wiping his face as he stumbled to his feet. He backed away, collapsing onto the bed, looking down at the crumpled polaroid laying on the thin mattress.

He picked it up, running one finger over the profile of her face. “Oceanside,” he mumbled and Rick frowned. “Simon killed all their men.”

“Did you order it?” Rick asked and Negan laughed, shaking his head.

“After all this, you still don’t get it,” he spat. “No, I didn’t fucking order shit. I told him one.  _ One. _ He did this and now…” The tears weren’t being stopped and Rick stared in shock as Negan laughed hysterically, covering his face for a moment. His choked laughter died down and he raised red-rimmed eyes to Rick.

“Miranda took the gun and killed Y/N for revenge,” Tara whispered and Rick swallowed, looking down at either side of his body, taking in the two additional corpses that weren’t needed.

“You win, Rick,” Negan drawled, all the emotion and fire in his voice gone as he leaned against the wall, staring at his dead Omega, her photo slipping from his fingers. Michonne closed the Y/N’s eyes, making her appear to be sleeping.

Negan sighed and closed his eyes too.

“You win.”


End file.
